Saturday, July 26, 2008

This is the weekend of Comic Con International in San Diego, and RDA attended his very first Comic Con, joining fellow cast members from Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis. On Thursday night, a special premiere of Continuum was held aboard the USS Midway, and on Friday RDA and the cast participated in the panels and autograph sessions. On Saturday afternoon, RDA checked in from San Diego with a short message describing how much fun he has been having this weekend.

You'll find the latest "Note From Rick" on the website now, as well as a selection of photos and links from the weekend's activities. Also, the Lexicon continues to grow, and entries are now complete through the letter "O".

"There is a story I've been wanting to do in the back half of the season [Season Four], which is a Ronon story which essentially is the sequel to 'Reunion.' Just because the stories that needed telling in the back half would never got around to making it. The sequel that I would like to do in Season Five ... would afford us the opportunity to see a little of Ronon's dark side, so in response to that Jason [Momoa] will get the opportunity to go to the dark side."

(Executive producer Joseph Mallozzi, in an interview with Slice of SciFi)

(Please follow the link for the complete blog update and to view the SGA season five production photos in their original format. A bald Ronon? EEK!)

Prepping the Wraith

For any of you interested in submitting a question for actor Mark Dacascos (aka Tyre from season four's Reunion and season 5's Broken Ties), you have until midnight tomorrow to get them in.

Mark Dacascos as Tyre

Tanja in the production office asked me to tells fans about a very special auction. Tanja writes: "I have just posted the last of the two North Face Duffle Bags we had autographed during the filming of `Continuum' on ebay. We auctioned the first of the bags in September `07 and raised almost $1000 for Ryan's (camera) son's charity. Ryan's son, Trey, has a disease called Hunter's Syndrome. This disease is part of the Mucopolysaccharide (MPS) family and causes damage to the cellular functions of the body resulting in damage to organs and mental development. It also affects the bones, skin, tendons and cartilage resulting in deformation.

I would like to ask you to help me promote this auction and to help me raise money for this charity.

The bag also includes Don Davis' signature which makes it even more special.

No, wait! There was something else I was supposed to mention…What was it…?

Be careful of sharp swords

Oh, yeah. Broken Ties aired last night and you're all no doubt wondering "What the hell was he thinking?" Well…

Need a hand?

I knew I was going to write this story as far back as last season. From the moment I made the decision to have Tyre escape at the end of Reunion, I knew there had to be re-match. And what better slot than episode #3, one that has played host to Ronon stories in four of the last five seasons. I pitched out the bare bones idea to the room (Tyre captured Ronon and offers him up to the wraith who attempt to turn him) and we spent a morning spinning it. It was Paul who suggested we needed to see Ronon turn which dovetailed nicely with actor Jason Momoa's off-season request for his character to go darkside. So I sat down and beat out an outline, working with main goals: 1) Ronon had to go darkside and 2) I wanted these former Satedans to have a re-match but this time their role would be reversed and Tyre would be on our side. As I was working on the outline, I mentioned the script to our stunt coordinator Bam Bam and he expressed an interest in choreographing a sword fight, something we had yet to do on the show…

A bald Ronon? Eeek! Rojac!

There were a number of elements I wanted to balance in the script. Of course, there was the A story charting Ronon's capture, torturous treatment at the hands of the wraith, his turn, his rescue, and his equally torturous detox, but I felt it was important to juxtapose the big man's descent and restoration with Tyre's ascent and redemption.

There was also the matter of Teyla and the difficult decision she faced as a new mother, essentially having to choose between being a stay at home mom or continuing her dangerous job as an off-world explorer. And then there was Woolsey whose by-the-book priggishness belies a warmth, compassion, and vulnerability that I wanted to hint at if not glimpse. In addition to the aforementioned, I wanted to service the other characters by demonstrating their affection for Ronon (John's resolve in the jail cell, Rodney's inability to sleep) as well as their determination to get their friend back. In the end, I think it came together pretty well. This was certainly the most character-driven episode I wrote this season and I'm pleased that the character moments were what most of the fans took away from the viewing.

The stars of Stargate: Continuum and Stargate Atlantis were out in force at this week's San Diego Comic-Con, and GateWorld's David Read was there with them every step of the way. Thanks to our friends at MGM and Fox Home Entertainment, GateWorld had exclusive, up-close access at the Continuum red carpet premiere, all three Stargate panels, and the cast autograph sessions at the big Stargate booth on the convention floor!

On Thursday night at Comic-Con, the cast and crew of the Stargate television series debuted their new film Stargate: Continuum on the U.S.S. Midway. Film School Rejects was on the press line to ask the daunting questions of the stars, covering everything from Teal’c’s new hair style to Richard Dean Anderson’s favorite kind of cake.